We are sharing some of our photos from Strasbourg France, but also an incredible recipe for making homemade pizza dough. This recipe is so easy and foolproof we use it almost weekly. It is the perfect make ahead meal and can be a fun family meal project or a healthy food swap, depending on how you make it.
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The evolution of Gingerbread
In the United States we know gingerbread at Christmas made into a gingerbread man, a dark cookie sweetened with molasses. But in Europe it takes all kinds of shapes.
(A list of our favorite tips for traveling with a camera is included at the end of this blog)

Baba in Paris
Outside the Sacre Coeur there was a food festival at Christmas where famous food providers from all over France were demonstrating cooking techniques. There we discovered the Canele d’Armagnac and the Baba au Bougnat, which quickly became our new Christmas tradition.

Strasbourg France
Really nice having some down time while traveling. Just leisurely wandering instead of rushing to the next planned activity.
OUR TIPS FOR TRAVELING WITH CAMERA EQUIPMENT
OUR LIST OF FAVORITE EQUIPMENT FOR TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY
Traveling with camera equipment can get a little tricky, so we have listed some of our favorite tips for making it easier.
- Take only your favorite camera and lenses
- use a comfortable cross-body camera case
- always carry a polarizer
- use watertight and shock resistant equipment
- put gel packets in the camera case
CAMERAS –
LENSES –
- Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8L II,
- Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L,
- Canon EF 17-40 f/4L USM Ultra Wide angle Zoom,
- Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L II zoom
- Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L macro
OTHER EQUIPMENT –
- Hoya 77mm NXT Circular Polarizer Filter
- Hoya 72mm NXT Circular Polarizer Filter
- SanDisk Extreme Pro 16GB 160MB/s CompactFlash cards
- CompactFlash card case that is watertight and shock resistant
- Interteck reusable blue silica gel packets
- Tamrac sling pack camera bag

French haute Couture designer Cleone
CAMERA AND LENS DETAILS LISTED ON THIS BLOG POST IN THE RIGHT COLUMN
While in Strasbourg, Tony and I stopped to admire the exquisite wedding dresses at the boutique shop of haute couture designer Cleone, and actually met the designer herself. The dresses are incredibly imaginative. I would love to be invited to a runway show for the next collection – I can’t wait to see what she will design next. [Strasbourg, France – October 2, 2013]

Viking Cruise crashes
CAMERA AND LENS DETAILS LISTED ON THIS BLOG POST IN THE RIGHT COLUMN
Our relaxing river cruise has ended before it hardly got started! The Viking Sun, part of the Viking River Cruise line crashed into a structure on the side of the canal at 2:30 in the morning (news article). Our cabin was below the water level, so we went topside where we took these pictures of the damage. We were near Strasbourg, so eventually the boat was evacuated and we were taken to Strasbourg, which was the end of our river cruise. I guess you have to be flexible when you travel, since you never know what is going to happen!!